Adjustable wrench.



J. H. JENMER.

ADJUSTABLE WRENCH.

APPLICATION man raw/22,1915.

LJ'. Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. H. JENNER.

ADJUSTABLE WRENCH,

APPLCATON FlLED MAY 22, i915.

PATENT FFME.

JOHN HENRY JENNEB, OF LEAVENWOBTH, INDIANA.

ADJUSTABLE WRENCH.

Spectcaton. of Letters Patent.

Tatented Jan. 30, 191'?.

Application :tiled may 22, 1916. Serial No. 99,169.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN HENRY J ENNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Leavenworth, in the county of Crawford and State of indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Wrenches; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others:

skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in adjustable sliding jaw wrenches, said improvements being applicable to both pipe and nut wrenches.

'Ille principal object of the invention is to provide a wrench of this character with means whereby the sliding 'aw may be -quckly and easily adjusted an held in this adjusted position until manually released.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed wrench havingv a small number of parts and' one which will be very eihcient in operation'and use.

With these general objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of conl struction, combination and arrangement ofvse parts which will hereinafter be more particularly described and claimed.

.In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wrench constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the parts intheir normal position; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the tool shownin Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a vertical section showing more particularly the arrangement of the parts when in their normal inactive position; Fig. 4C is a similar view showing `the position of the various parts of the wrench when the same is in itsV gripping position; Fig. 5 is also a .view similar to Fig. 3 showing the lever retracted so that the movable jaw may be adjusted; Fig. 6. is a horizontal section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3; and Fig 7 is a detail perspective view of the upper end ot' the bell crank lever showing the pawl 14 and its coperating parts. v

ln thepreferred embodiment illustrated, the .numeral 1 designates a movable jaw member having a Shank 2 extending therefrom which is slidable vertically in a guide formed in a stationary jaw member 3. This 4member 3 is preferably formed of heavy gage sheet metal bent into channel-shape as shown and having a stationary jaw e secured therein u adjacent one end thereof. The

v The long arm 13 of the bell shank 2 has its inner or free end portion reduced as shown at 5 and provided with ratchet teeth 6, the extreme free end of this shank also having a stop 7 which is used to prevent the movable jaw member from sliding out of the stationary member 3.

The sides of the channeled portion of the jaw member 3 are shaped adjacent their connection with the stationary jaw 4 to form ears 8 having alined pivot openings 9 therein. The short arm 10 of a bellcrank lever 11 is disposed between the ears 8 and pivoted at its end thereto by a pivot pin 12 which extends through the openings 9 and through additional openings in the lever. crank lever 11 and the shank portion of the member 3 form together a handle for the wrench.

The pivoted end of the bell crank lever including the short arm 10 is bifurcated and designed to receive between thevfurcations thereof an arcuately shaped pawl 14, one of and 13 respectively, while its opposite end has a head 15 formed thereon, on the straight face of which are provided one or more ratchet teeth for engagement with the teeth 6 on 'the shank of the movable jaw member 1. A curved leai':l spring 16 carried by the long arm 13 of the lever 11 engages the outside face of the pawl 14 and tends to force the same toward the teeth 6 while at the same time causing Ithe lever to move outwardly away from the stationary jaw Amember 3. From the drawings it will be seen that the spring 16 is secured at one end to the long arm 13, the other end being movable between the bifurcated ends of the lever. I have also provided an additional leaiI spring 17 secured to the stationary jaw l and so disposed that its free end will engage the paw] 14 adjacent its fulcrumed point and cause the bell crank lever and the parts carried thereby to move inwardly around the pivot pin 12, thus holding the pawl le in normal engagement with the teeth 6 as will later be more fully explained.

ln addition t0 the above features, l have equipped this improved wrench with means for disengaging thepawl 14 from the teeth 6 by moving the long arm 13 of the lever 11 outwardly away from the member 3. This consists of a dog 18 pivoted intermediate its ends upon the pivot pin 12. One end of the dog is provided `with a cam face 19 which engages the seat formed by the inner curved portion of the pawl 14, while its other end is shaped to provide a iingcr 2t).

The dog 18 is normallyY in engagement with the pawl 11 at two points, the cam 1%) contacting with the curved portion or seat thereof at 21. while the base of the finger 2U bears against the pivoted end thereof as seen at 22. ',lhis'normal position of the parts is shown in Fig. 23, where it will also be seen that the spring 1G engages the outer tace of the pawl 1t and the spring 17 the inner pivoted end thereof. This spring 1G while it. tends to force the pawl into engagement with the teeth (5, is prevented trom doing so bceause ot the action ot' the dog 18. '.lhus the teeth of the pawl and those on the movable jaw member are held in engagement by the action ofthe spring 1T.' which, bearing against the inner pivoted rnd ot' said pawl moves the bellcrank lever 11 and the parts carried thereby around the pivot 12. The spring 16 serves to torce the arm 13 ot the lever 11 outwardl)1 when the teethl are engaged as shown in this ligure, or when the parts are as illustrated in Fig. 4. When, however, a nut or other article is to be gripped between the jaws ot' the wrench, theI parts are :aused to assume the positions shown in Fig. 4, the long arm 13 being moved toward the member 3. This movement of the arm causes the bell crank lever 11 to move around the pivot 12, carrying with it the pawl 14, which in turn Forces the movable jaw member inwardly to tightly grip the article. In this position, the dog 18 and the spring 17 have become inactive.. the former having its cam 19 disengaged from the pawlI so that the spring 1G is permitted to act thereon and hold it in contact with the teeth G. Thus the pawl is held in engagement with the teeth in the lshank Q both when the parts are in their normal position as shown in Fig. 3, and when in their gripping positionas in Fig. 4, first by the action of the spring 17. and last-ly by the. spring 16.

To adjust the movable jaw member, the long arm 13 ot' the lever 11 is moved outwardly to disengage the teeth on the head 15 trom those in the shank 2 as shown in Fig. 5. From this figure it will be seen that the pawl tt and the dog 1S are. in the lsame position with respect to each othe` as when the lever 11 is in its normal position as illust-rated in Fig. Si. ln other words, the cam 19 ot' the dog engages the pawl at 21, the latter heilig held in contacttherewith by the spring 16, and the base of the finger 20 contacts at 22 with the inner pivoted end ot the pawl adjacent its pivot, thus limiting the action ot' the spring 1G and preventing the inward movement of the pawl thereby. But, although the parts 16 and 18 remain the same with respect to each outwardly, the arm 13 is released. and the spring 1T throws the lever into its normal position with the pawl 14 engaging the teeth ii. whereupon the wrench is ready to grip the article to be operated upon.'

it is desired to la)v lparticular stress upon the operation ot' the spring 1T inasmuch as it holds the pawl 1J: in engagement with the ratchet teeth 1' and prevents the movable `inw member 1 from sliding outwardlv away l'rom the other parts of the wrene when the same is held in any other position than that shown in the drawings. Vere it not for this spring, the lever 11 and the parts carried thereb)Y would have a tendcncv to move about the pivot 12 and prevent proper operation of the wrench. Further-more. the dog 1S which is used for re leasing the pawl 11 trom the teeth 6 when the lever is moved outwardly, is also an extremely important part of the invention.

l claim:

l. wrench ot' the class described comprising a movable jaw member having ratchet teeth on its shank, a stationary jaw member having a guide to receive the shank, a lever pivotcd to the .stationary jaw member, a pa wl carried b v said lever for engagement with lsaid ratchet teeth, means for forcing said pawl into normal engagement with said ratchet teeth, and a pivoted dog vl'or cooperation with said pawl to move the latter out ot engagement with the teeth when said lever is moved in one direction.

2. wrench ot' the class described comprising a movable jaw member having ratchet teeth on its shank, a stationary'jaw member having a guide to receive the shank, a lever pivoted to the stationary jaw 'membcr. a pawl carried bv said lever for engagement with said ratchet teeth, a pair of springs engaging said pawl. and a dog, said dog 'forcing said pawl out of engagement with said teeth when the lever' is moved in one direction.

3. A. wrench ot the class described com- Vprising a movable jaw member having ratchet teeth on its shank, a stationary jaw member having a guide to receive the shank, a lever pivoted to the stationary jaw member, a pawl carried b v saiid lever for engagement with said ratchet teeth, a )air of springs engaging said pawl, and a og pivoted intermediate its ends and having a cam tace on one end engaging 'a seat in said pawl, the dog forcing said pawl out of engagement with the teeth when'the lever is operated in one direction..

4. A wrench of the class described comprising n movable jaw member having neifiefife ratchet teeth on its shank, a stationary jaw member having a guide to receive the shank, a. bell crank lever pivoted at one end to the stationary jaw member, a paWl pivoted to Jche lever for engagement with said ratchet teeth and having a seat therein, a spring on said stationary jaw member for engagement with said pawl for holding the same normally in engagement with. said teeth, an additional spring for forcing said lever outwardly, and clog pivoted intermediate its ends anfl having a cam face on one end fer engagement with said seat, said dog forcing said pawl out of engagement with the teeth When the lever is actuated in one direction, 15

Witnesses.

' J @HN sVitnesees ELMER Mnrijinnns, Env/' SACKSTEDER.

EVENE-Y JENB.

presence of two subscribing 2e 

